We Can!™ City Spotlight: Gary, INPosted October 2, 2007

The city of Gary, IN, became one of the three founding We Can! City sites in April 2007, along with South Bend, IN, and Roswell, GA. As a We Can! City, Gary offers obesity prevention programs to both parents and youth in collaboration with a variety of community-based partners. In addition, Gary distributes We Can! tips and information to all city employees on maintaining a healthy weight.

Becoming a We Can! City is a great way for community sites to expand the work they are already doing with the We Can! program. For example, Gary has used its status as a We Can! City to make connections with the Indiana Governor’s In Shape Indiana, a statewide overweight prevention initiative. Gary has also maintained a strong local presence with events such as city-wide Aerobics Day, Family Fitness Day, We Can! Wacky Wednesdays, and a new memorandum of understanding with the Boys and Girls Club to get We Can! programs implemented with approximately 1,000 children this fall.

To assist Gary in its transition to a We Can! City, NIH provided technical assistance to plan and implement We Can!, as well as additional materials such as parent handbooks, posters, videos, and the one-stop resource We Can! Energize Our Community: Toolkit for Action. All city sites also receive a specially designed road sign that says, “We Can! CityUSA—Working with the National Institutes of Health to promote healthy weight, healthy children.”